Sovereign and Critical-Infrastructure Monitoring

Monitoring critical sites on your own ground

Omniris

Geospatial Intelligence

White Paper

Overview

How government agencies and the operators of energy, water, transport and logistics sites can turn repeat drone flights into reviewed, provable records of what changed: on their own hardware, in their own country, and still working when the network is cut.

Omniris vertical paper · October 2026

Monitoring critical sites on your own ground

EventAI change run · sealed into the later map's custody record

Dates2026-06-04 → 2026-09-17 · same site, two orthomosaics

InputsSHA-256 3f9a…02c1 (earlier) · 8b07…e47e (later)

ModelOWLv2 + SAM 2.1 · confidence ≥ 0.20 · prompt fingerprint kept

Line-upestimated · 2.1 ft E, 0.7 ft N (0.64 m, 0.21 m) · spread 0.5 ft (0.15 m) · 23 fixed structures

Result7 appeared · 3 disappeared · 412 unchanged

Review10 findings filed, awaiting an analyst

Illustrative example values.

Summary

Power stations, substations, water works, rail yards, ports, pipelines and logistics hubs have to know what has changed on and around their sites (a new vehicle park beside the fence, a container stack that was not there last month, a washed-out embankment) and be able to show how they know. EU law requires critical entities to protect their sites physically, naming "perimeter monitoring tools and routines" among the measures to consider, and to re-assess their risks at least every four years [5][6]; US rules set how often pipeline rights-of-way are patrolled, and allow it from the air [8][9]. Drones are a repeatable way to look. What these organisations often cannot do is send the imagery to a cloud in another country, or depend on a link an incident may take down.

Omniris turns drone flights into maps, 3D models and reviewed findings, keeps every file in a tamper-evident evidence vault, and runs on Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, the Omniris data center edition, or your own servers. The on-premises edition can run disconnected. Six capabilities matter most here:

Your data stays on your ground

On premises, the files, the database, map and 3D processing, AI detection on your own NVIDIA or AMD graphics processors, the encryption keys and the custody record all stay on your servers.

Keeps working when cut off

A switch takes the whole site offline. Mapping, AI, comparison, reports, encryption and local sign-in keep working, and a full planet street map is held on the box. Anything that needs the internet says so plainly.

Change review, not verdicts

Pick two dated flights of a site and Omniris lists the objects that appeared or disappeared, on a map. Each one becomes a finding awaiting an analyst. Nothing is treated as confirmed until a person has reviewed it.

Every run on the record

Each comparison is sealed into the custody record with both input fingerprints, the model, the prompt, the threshold and the counts, so a "nothing changed" result can be traced as fully as a finding.

One report for decision-makers

A situation report PDF, in English or Polish, tells the story of a site between two dates: imagery side by side, what changed, findings, sources with verifiable certificates, and the method's limits.

A detector you are allowed to use

Besides the default detector, you can choose one whose licence carries no restriction on how its results are used. That matters where another model's licence forbids military use.

How critical-infrastructure operators use drones today

Who this is

In the United States, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) names 16 critical infrastructure sectors, among them Energy, Dams, Transportation Systems, Water and Wastewater, Chemical, Government Services and Facilities, and the Defense Industrial Base [1]. In the European Union, the NIS2 directive lists energy, transport, drinking water, waste water, public administration and space among its "sectors of high criticality" [2]. The CER directive (Directive (EU) 2022/2557) required each member state to identify its critical entities by 17 July 2026 [7]. The organisations in this paper are those operators, and the government bodies that oversee or protect them.

Their drone work is mostly about knowing the state of a site and proving it: what is inside and outside the fence, what has changed, what a storm did, whether a structure is still sound.

The missions

Mission	What is flown	What drives it, and how often	What the buyer expects
Perimeter and site-change monitoring	Repeat straight-down mapping of fence lines, yards, laydown and parking areas, and the ground around the site	The CER directive requires critical entities to ensure adequate physical protection of their sites, "duly considering, for example, fencing, barriers, perimeter monitoring tools and routines, detection equipment and access controls" [5]. NERC CIP-014 requires security plans for the most critical US substations that deter, detect, delay, assess, communicate and respond [10]. Network Rail lists "security surveillance" among its aerial surveys [15]. Cadence follows each operator's plan	Dated maps of the site; what has appeared or gone since the last flight; items to check
Corridor and right-of-way patrol	Linear flights along pipelines, rail lines and other corridors	US hazardous-liquid pipelines: surface conditions on the right-of-way inspected "at intervals not exceeding 3 weeks, but at least 26 times each calendar year", by walking, driving, flying or other means [8]. Gas transmission lines: patrol intervals from 4½ to 15 months depending on class location, and flying is an accepted method [9]. Network Rail flies to find earthworks and drainage problems (including landslips) and to monitor vegetation [15]	A record that the patrol happened; encroachments, ground movement and third-party activity located on a map
Periodic condition surveys	Close imagery and 3D capture of structures: bridges, dams, overhead line equipment, buildings	US highway bridges get a routine inspection at intervals that, under the standard method, may not exceed 24 months [11]. The Bureau of Reclamation has studied drones for bridge inspections and rockfall hazards [28]. Network Rail monitors overhead line equipment condition and locates overheating equipment from the air [15]	Imagery and 3D models, measured defects, a defect list that feeds maintenance
Damage assessment after an event	Rapid mapping after storms, floods, fires and earthquakes	FEMA's 2025 Preliminary Damage Assessment Guide says aerial imagery "may be collected with helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, or drones", asks for orthorectified straight-down airborne imagery at 10-inch pixels or better, and describes comparing damage with imagery from before the disaster [13]. Local, tribal and state agencies may share drone imagery with FEMA's assessment teams [13]	Before-and-after maps; damaged assets located and counted; a record that holds up when funding or liability is argued
Risk and resilience assessment	A current, dated picture of the whole site and its surroundings	CER: a risk assessment within nine months of being notified as a critical entity, then at least every four years [6]. US community water systems serving more than 3,300 people: a risk and resilience assessment, recertified at least every five years, covering physical barriers and monitoring practices [12]. CIP-014: transmission risk assessments every 30 or 60 calendar months [10]	Baseline imagery that the assessment can cite, and a way to show what changed between assessments
Baseline imagery	Not flown by the operator: national aerial programmes	Poland's national orthophoto (GUGiK) is produced at 2 in (5 cm) pixels for towns and 4 in (10 cm) elsewhere, updated every two and five years respectively, free to download and use for any purpose [25]. The US NAIP programme has flown 2 ft (0.6 m) imagery since 2018, on a repeat cycle of no more than three years [26]	A dated "before" picture to compare drone flights against

Who flies

Some large operators keep a flight team of their own and add approved contractors. Network Rail uses specially trained in-house pilots and a framework of approved suppliers, and only those certified operators may fly within 164 ft (50 m) of its infrastructure [15]. After a disaster, FEMA does not fly drones itself; its guide says assessment teams will accept drone imagery submitted by state, local, tribal and territorial governments [13].

What gets in the way

Too much imagery to look at. A study of drone teams at recent US disasters found they delivered between 47 GB and 369 GB of imagery a day, "more imagery than can reasonably be transmitted or interpreted by subject matter experts in the disaster scene" [14].
The data is sensitive. CISA and the FBI warn that drone data can reveal "sensitive imagery, surveying data, facility layouts" of critical infrastructure. They advise operators to review "how and where data will be stored and shared", to isolate, air-gap or segment the networks drone data passes through, and not to live-stream to the internet [20].
The network may not be there. A storm, flood or attack can take the link down too. NIS2 lists business continuity, backup management and disaster recovery among the measures essential and important entities must take [3].
The cost case is about better data. The Bureau of Reclamation's study concluded that a drone programme would not pay for itself at once, but that its cost could be offset by "better quality data to support decision making" and less risk to staff [28].
Findings get challenged. An incident report, insurance claim, funding application or prosecution needs the imagery, and every step taken with it, to stand up afterwards.

The rules that shape the work

Four kinds of rule shape a drone monitoring programme at a critical site. Omniris keeps the data where these rules want it and keeps a record that shows what was done; demonstrating compliance stays with the operator.

Resilience and security obligations

Rule	What it asks for, in brief
NIS2 — Directive (EU) 2022/2555	Cybersecurity risk-management measures on an "all-hazards" basis, including business continuity (backup management, disaster recovery), supply chain security, cryptography, access control and multi-factor authentication (Article 21(2)) [3]. Member states had to apply it from 18 October 2024 [4]
CER — Directive (EU) 2022/2557	Critical entities identified by 17 July 2026 [7]; a risk assessment within nine months of notification and at least every four years [6]; resilience measures including adequate physical protection, considering for example fencing, barriers, perimeter monitoring tools and routines, detection equipment and access controls (Article 13(1)(b)) [5]
NERC CIP-014-3	Physical security of the most critical US transmission stations and substations: periodic risk assessments, and security plans to deter, detect, delay, assess, communicate and respond [10]. FERC approved its successor, CIP-014-4, on 10 September 2026, to take effect on 1 October 2028 [10]
America's Water Infrastructure Act, section 2013	Risk and resilience assessments and emergency response plans for community water systems serving more than 3,300 people, reviewed at least every five years [12]
NIST SP 800-82 Rev. 3	Guidance on securing operational technology, the control systems that interact with the physical plant [27]

Where the data may go

Site imagery can contain personal data: people, vehicles, number plates. Under the GDPR, personal data may leave the EU only if the conditions of its Chapter V are met (Article 44) [21]; the EU–US Data Privacy Framework of 10 July 2023 covers transfers to certified US companies [22]. For US critical infrastructure, CISA and the FBI advise knowing where drone data is stored, keeping it off networks it could leak from, and encrypting it at rest and in transit [20].

Which drones may fly

American Security Drone Act. Federal agencies may not buy or operate drones made or assembled by a "covered foreign entity", and the operating ban covers contracted drone services. Federal funds from contracts, grants and cooperative agreements may not be used for them either [16]. A state transport department's notice dates these restrictions from 22 December 2025, under OMB memorandum M-26-02, and tells recipients of federal highway funds who own covered drones that they "must cease their operation, maintenance, or data processing on any FHWA funded project or grant" [17].
FCC Covered List. On 22 December 2025 the FCC added drones and drone critical components produced in a foreign country to its Covered List, which bars new FCC equipment authorizations. The listing, updated several times since, now exempts items on the Blue UAS Cleared List and qualifying domestic end products until 1 January 2028, devices granted a Conditional Approval, and toy drones [18].
Blue UAS. The US defence department's list of vetted drones and components moved from the Defense Innovation Unit to the Defense Contract Management Agency on 3 December 2025 [19]. CISA advises critical-infrastructure operators to consult it [20].

Omniris processes the photo files you upload, from whichever aircraft you fly, so choosing the fleet stays with the operator. Where a funding rule reaches as far as processing data from covered drones [17], that too is a fleet decision.

Where and how they may fly

In the EU, flights beyond the pilot's line of sight fall in the "specific" category of Regulation (EU) 2019/947, which needs an operational authorisation or a declaration under a standard scenario [23]. In the US, a Part 107 flight must stay within unaided line of sight [24], so long corridors need a waiver. Omniris's airspace check reads US FAA data (see Getting the flights flown).

Use case by use case: what Omniris does

Use case	What Omniris delivers
Perimeter and site-change monitoring from repeat flights	Each flight is a dated map on the site's timeline. Compare dates by swipe, fade or blink; AI change lists objects that appeared or disappeared; measure elevation change; set a change alert. Changes become findings for review (Change review)
A national orthophoto or satellite scene as the "before" picture	Add any georeferenced GeoTIFF you hold, such as a national survey sheet or a satellite scene, to a site as a dated image with its source named, beside your flights on the timeline
Reference maps of the site: roads, buildings, parcels, pipelines	GeoJSON, KML/KMZ, zipped Shapefile or GML (national topographic datasets included) as reference layers over every date, checked to land in the right place
Corridor and right-of-way patrol	Each patrol flight is mapped and compared with the last, with encroachments and ground changes filed as findings on the map
Condition surveys of structures	Maps, 3D models (meshes and Gaussian splats) and thermal maps, with measuring tools and findings with evidence pictures that feed the defect list
Thermal checks of electrical equipment	Temperature maps from radiometric cameras, spot readings, temperature differences graded by severity, and hot-spot search (Thermal Imaging paper)
Damage assessment after an event	Map the site afterwards and compare it with the last flight or a national orthophoto; AI detection finds the objects you name; the situation report packages the before-and-after picture
Input to a risk or resilience assessment	Dated baseline imagery, reference layers, a situation report and custody certificates the assessment can cite
Evidence for an incident, a claim or a prosecution	Tamper-evident custody records, signed certificates anyone can verify offline, legal holds and retention policies (Evidence and records)
Working with the network down	The on-premises edition can be switched offline and keeps processing, comparing, reporting and protecting data (Working disconnected)

The building blocks

Sites. A site is a named place with a boundary that every flight and imported image joins. The Site Navigator lists its dates oldest first, stacks any of them on the map with their own opacity, and draws your reference layers over them. An imported date shows its source, so a national orthophoto is never mistaken for one of your flights (Site Management paper).
AI detection. Open-vocabulary: you type what to look for ("vehicle", "shipping container", "tarp") and the model outlines each one it finds, on whole orthomosaics or single photos. Anyone who can edit the folder can correct the result and press Verify. The AI's own result is never changed, and each check is sealed into the custody record with who made it and what changed (AI Detection paper).
Findings. An issue someone has to act on, placed on the map with a category, severity, stage, owner, comments and evidence pictures. Findings come from AI detections, AI change, change alerts and people. Nearby duplicates are merged, and each finding has its own sealed history (Findings paper).

Change review between two dated flights

The question behind most monitoring flights is "what is different since last time?" Omniris answers it three ways, none of them a final verdict.

Method	Answers	Works on
Visual compare	"Show me both dates": swipe with a curtain, fade or blink	Any map layer, imported national orthophotos included
Computed difference	"How much ground was raised or removed?" Material added, removed and net, each with its uncertainty; or how much of an area's vegetation index rose or fell	Elevation and index layers on a projected map grid
AI change	"Which objects appeared, and which disappeared?" Object by object, with a confidence on each date	Two orthomosaics with AI results from the same model and prompt

Colour maps are compared by eye, not by value: a change in the light between flights would swamp real change. That is why the computed difference takes elevation and index layers only.

How AI change works

In the Site Navigator's Compare section, pick the earlier and later dates and a colour map layer, choose the detection model, set the confidence and press Find changes. The run happens on the deployment's own servers (on premises, your machines) and finishes even if you close the page.

Same question

Both dates were asked the same thing

Both maps need results from the same model and the same list of objects (order and punctuation ignored). Otherwise the run is refused, so a class nobody looked for on one date is never reported as disappeared.

Checked first

People's corrections count

Each date uses its verified result where a person has checked it, the AI's otherwise. Detections below the confidence you set, which starts at the model's own default, are left out on both dates.

Placed

Every object on the ground, with a margin of error

The margin is the larger of twice the map's pixel size, the map's measured alignment error where ground control was used, and 3.3 ft (1 m). Maps whose ground resolutions differ by more than two times are refused, because the detector finds far more on the sharper map, which would show as false "appeared" objects.

Lined up

The shift between flights is measured, not assumed

Two ordinary flights can sit several feet apart. Omniris estimates the shift from objects that never move (buildings, roofs, towers, tanks, silos, bridges), never from vehicles, containers or machinery, which could be the change. It accepts only an unambiguous answer: at least five structures, at least half of them agreeing, a tight spread and no rival shift such as a row of identical warehouses can produce. Otherwise the result says "offset not estimated", and why. So include fixed structures such as buildings in the prompt.

Matched

One to one, within the combined margins

The same class on both dates, within both margins plus the line-up spread, is unchanged; matching is one to one, so two parked cars never both match one. Only on the later date: appeared. Only on the earlier: disappeared.

For review

Changes become findings awaiting an analyst

Each appeared or disappeared object is filed as an untriaged finding, such as "Truck appeared", with an evidence picture of both dates side by side. Unchanged objects are counted, not filed.

On the map, appeared objects are green, disappeared red, and unchanged grey if you ask for them. Click one for its confidence on each date, how far it moved and its margin of error, in feet with metres in brackets. A comparison reuses stored detection results, so it is not charged for.

Each run is on the record

Every AI change run is sealed as its own event in the later map's custody record: both input maps by custody chain and content fingerprint, the model, a fingerprint of the prompt (the text itself goes in the record's private part), the confidence threshold, the line-up (shift east and north, spread and number of agreeing structures, when estimated) and the appeared, disappeared and unchanged counts. A run that finds nothing is recorded as fully as one that finds a great deal, so "we looked on these dates with this model and nothing had changed" is provable. Each finding it files points back to that event.

Change review, not autonomous detection

AI change compares what the detector found on two dates. It points analysts at what probably changed; it has not confirmed it. Anything the detector missed on either date is missed here too, and a false detection can show as a change. So every change lands as an untriaged finding, people's corrections are used where they exist, and the situation report lists unreviewed items first and says they have not been checked.

Choosing the detector

OWLv2 + SAM 2.1. Its licence places no restriction on how results are used, which suits government and defence-adjacent customers who cannot accept use restrictions. Its scores run lower than the other models', so its default threshold is 0.2 rather than 0.45.
SAM 3. Its licence (Meta's SAM License) prohibits military and unlawful use; the dialog shows that notice before a job starts. Organisations bound by such terms choose another model.
Grounded SAM 2, selected unless you choose another, also carries no use restriction.

All three run on the deployment's own graphics processors; on premises, your own NVIDIA or AMD machines.

Change alerts

Alert me turns a computed difference into a standing watch. Each time a new flight of the site arrives, Omniris compares it with the one before and emails you, and up to ten other people with Omniris accounts, if the material added, removed or net, or the index change (its average, or the share of the area that changed), passes the line you set. Alerts are checked every six hours, changed areas above a minimum size can become findings automatically, and on a disconnected site the emails wait in a queue.

Situation reports

Most people who act on a monitoring result will never open Omniris: a duty officer, a security manager, a regulator, a ministry, a court. The situation report is one PDF that tells the story of a site between two dates. In the Compare section, choose the two dates and a colour map layer, pick English or Polish and click Generate report. The PDF is also saved to the vault with its own custody record, in the later image's folder or, if you cannot add files there, a Reports folder of your own.

Header

The site, the two dates, when it was generated (UTC and local time) and by whom.

Area overview

The later imagery with the area's outline, the site's reference layers, a scale bar and a north arrow, or "Imagery unavailable", never an outline passed off as the area.

What changed

Both dates side by side on one grid, at the same scale and without colour adjustment; the elevation change when both dates have a surface model; the AI change counts and how the dates were lined up.

Findings

Each changed object pictured on both dates (up to 40), then every other open finding in the area that you may see. Items not yet reviewed by a person come first.

Sources and provenance

Per image: source, capture date, custody chain, fingerprint, upload and processing history including the AI change event, and a custody certificate issued at generation that anyone can check offline.

Method and limits

The model and its licence notice, the thresholds, what "unchanged" means, and the comparison's caveats.

Language and formats. Every fixed phrase comes from an English or Polish text table, common object classes included ("samochód — pojawił się", not "car appeared"). Polish uses a decimal comma, day-month-year dates and the 24-hour clock. Typed values print as entered. Units follow the generating person's setting: imperial with metric in brackets, or metric only.
Everything local. The report's imagery, maps and data come only from the vault, the database and the deployment's own servers, with no map tiles, basemap or weather fetched, so it builds the same way on a disconnected site.
A plain PDF. It never prints protected imagery: an encrypted earlier image shows as "Imagery unavailable", and no report is made when the later image or its folder is encrypted.

The app itself is in English; Polish is offered for the situation report. The Compare section's elevation and index comparison report can also be downloaded as a PDF.

Working disconnected

An on-premises Omniris site is a normal connected installation that can run disconnected. It does not depend on reaching Omniris, or anyone else, to keep its core work going. That matters for vehicle-mounted systems, closed networks, and sites that lose their link in the very incident they have to respond to.

Two ways to be offline

Switched offline. The people who run the site can take the whole site offline with one switch. While it is on, Omniris's own processes make no outbound connections, not even checks for whether the internet is back. Every user sees a banner saying that the site was switched offline, when, and the reason if one was given.
Detected. With the switch off, Omniris notices for itself when the internet, or one outside service, stops answering. A single failing service is labelled unavailable without calling the whole site offline.

For a true air gap, the control is the site's firewall: Omniris stops its own processes connecting out, not the operating system or other software. The installation guide gives an example rule set.

While disconnected	Examples
Works	Uploading, viewing, searching, downloading and exporting; maps, 3D models and AI detection on the site's own graphics processors; Compare, AI change and situation reports; findings and AI checking; encrypting and opening protected files (the key service is on the site); the custody record and legal holds; the street basemap and its labels; publishing to an ArcGIS Enterprise portal on your own network
Waits in a queue	Email notifications; the weather and place name for newly uploaded photos; independent timestamps for the custody record. Each goes out when the link returns
Stops, and says so	Orion, the AI assistant; address search; live weather (the last forecast is shown with its time); satellite basemap imagery; new Google, Apple, Microsoft or Facebook sign-ins; Hybrid jobs in the Omniris cloud; US airspace lookups and LAANC; publishing to ArcGIS Online

A map of the whole planet on the box

Every on-premises site holds a full planet-wide street basemap built from OpenStreetMap data, not a pre-cut region. The installer copies it onto the site's own storage and checks it byte for byte against a published fingerprint before switching it on. A connected site checks weekly for a newer build. The fonts for every label are built into the software, so the Streets, Light and Dark basemaps keep their labels with the cable pulled. Satellite and Hybrid backgrounds come from an internet imagery service and show as offline; a disconnected site's imagery is its own drone maps and any national orthophoto or other GeoTIFF added to the vault.

Signing in, and the licence

Sign-in. On premises, a browser session lasts 31 days by default and keeps extending while it is used. A desktop app that has registered its device key can sign in again offline, and can sign the browser in with a one-time link; email and password work offline too, as do passkeys where the site uses HTTPS. The desktop and phone apps renew their passes against the site itself. Sign everyone out ends every session, app pass and device key at once, for example after a laptop is lost.
Licence. The licence is a signed token the site checks itself, so a disconnected site runs for the full term of its licence; sites that must stay disconnected for long periods are issued longer terms. A lapsed licence makes the site read-only, not dark: browsing, searching, viewing, downloading and exporting keep working, and only new work stops.
Installation. A site is installed and licensed while it can reach Omniris, and copies and verifies its planet basemap while still connected. Adding user seats needs a connection.

Can run disconnected; not offline by default

A connected on-premises site uses the internet for maps, address search, weather, email, Orion and licence renewal, often through Omniris on its behalf so that no provider key sits on the site. This section describes what happens when that link is switched off or lost. The Security paper lists what a connected site sends, and to whom.

Accuracy and reference frames

Every site states its frame. RTK drones (which correct their GPS from a base station or network) are only as accurate as the frame of their corrections, which the photos do not record. Each site states it once: WGS84/ITRF, NAD83(2011), NAD83(PA11), or ETRF2000 for Poland (corrections in ETRF2000-PL). A flight can override its site's setting. There is no default: until the frame is stated, the site's RTK flights get no grading result.
National frames and heights. A ground-control survey labelled ETRF2000 (or ETRF2000-PL) is recognised as such when its points lie in Poland. Design models with heights in Poland's EVRF2007 system are placed using the national surveying agency's 2021 geoid model. For an ETRF2000 site, CAD export writes ETRS89 UTM.
National data on its own grid. Reference layers on a projected national grid are converted and checked to land inside the area that grid is meant for, or refused with a message naming the grid. Orthophoto sheets on a metric national grid are added as they are.
Uncertainty is shown. Each computed comparison is graded for how well the two surveys agree; AI change measures the shift between dates and prints each object's margin, at least 3.3 ft (1 m).

A drone map is not a licensed survey

Omniris computes positions, elevations and differences from your photos and ground control, and shows their uncertainty. That is not a survey certified by a licensed surveyor, and Omniris claims no national accuracy class. Where a result has legal weight, such as a boundary or a contract quantity, have it checked by someone licensed to certify it (Stitching paper).

Evidence and records

A monitoring result can end up in an incident review, a regulator's file, an insurance claim or a court. Every file in Omniris carries a tamper-evident custody record, on in every edition (Evidence Integrity paper).

A sealed history. Uploads, views, downloads, shares, moves, encryption, processing, AI results and each person's check of them, AI change runs and deletions are recorded with who, when, from where and the file's SHA-256 fingerprints, in a record that can only be added to.
Signed and independently timestamped. Each hour's events are combined into an anchor, signed with the deployment's own key and timestamped by an independent public authority, so no event can later be altered, removed or reordered without detection. Each deployment re-checks its own record daily and rebuilds it in full weekly.
Certificates checkable without Omniris. A file, folder or finding certificate is a signed PDF carrying its own proof and a small checker that runs on any computer with Python 3 and OpenSSL, with no account or internet connection.
Legal holds and retention. A hold on a file, folder, job, site, account or organisation freezes it, including items added later, enforced in the application, storage, the database and a write-once escrow copy. Retention policies keep files for a set period, then keep or delete them with a signed disposition certificate. Holds always win.

Disconnected, and on your own hardware

Sealing does not stop. Offline, anchors are still made and signed and wait in a queue. On reconnection, the next timestamped anchor proves everything sealed before it existed by then.
The signing key stays on site, in the server's TPM security chip (or another hardware key store reached through PKCS#11) or a protected key file. Registering its public key with Omniris while connected lets certificates prove the key belongs to that site.
The limits are printed. On-premises certificates say that times recorded while offline rest on the local clock (recorded as synchronised or not), that they cannot prove the operator did not rewrite history recorded while offline, and that the server's "root" user is outside legal holds.

Not legal advice

Omniris provides verifiable records and the means to check them. Whether evidence is admissible, and what weight it carries, depends on the jurisdiction and the case.

Security and identity

Access follows the folder, checked by the server on every request from the web, desktop and phone apps and the API: your vault, your organisation's vault (as manager, pilot, or a viewer limited to granted folders), a share, or a job you are working. Removing someone takes effect on their next request.
Protected files with your own key service. Any file or folder can be encrypted with OpenTDF, an open standard for files that carry their own access rules (AES-256-GCM). On premises the key service runs on your server, its keys are generated there and never leave, and it works disconnected. Each opening is checked against the folder rules and by the key service, and recorded before any content leaves. The Omniris service itself is on every protected file's access list, so it can process and re-encrypt files.
Sign-in without a password to steal. Passkeys (bound to the site's address, so they resist phishing), one-time emailed codes, Google, Apple, Microsoft or Facebook, and on premises email and password; each site chooses which to offer. Secrets that sign sign-in passes and protect API tokens and integrations are generated per site.

Roles are set in Omniris. Work accounts can sign in through Microsoft, and each person's role (manager, pilot, or viewer limited to granted folders) is assigned in Omniris rather than mapped from a corporate directory.

On Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud the storage and database services encrypt everything they store. On premises and in the data center edition, disk encryption comes from the servers' own setup rather than from Omniris; on premises, disk encryption and HTTPS are the site's choice. The Security paper covers all of this in full.

Getting the flights flown

Your own flight team. In every edition an organisation can have pilots as members, each approved by a manager before taking jobs. Pilots upload into the folders of the jobs they work, and results arrive in the organisation's vault as read-only snapshots with their own custody history.
Hired through the marketplace. On Omniris cloud and the data center edition, a client can hire an independent pilot through the Omniris marketplace, with payment handled in Omniris. The marketplace, payments and payouts exist only in those editions; on premises they are switched off and a site works with its own pilots and contractors.

Repeatable missions. Monitoring only works if the same area is flown the same way each time. The mission planner turns an area into flight lines from the camera, height and overlap, with terrain following, and estimates photos, time and batteries. Omniris never connects to the aircraft: it writes a mission file for DJI Pilot 2, DJI Fly, Litchi or QGroundControl/Auterion (or a boundary file for apps that plan their own lines), which can be saved to the vault with its own custody record. A job can carry up to 50 no-fly zones, such as a substation yard, kept out of the route (Mission Planning paper).

Airspace from FAA data. The airspace check reads the US Federal Aviation Administration's data, walks the whole route at the height actually flown, and says whether LAANC or air traffic control authorization is needed. Outside FAA coverage it says the data does not apply and never calls the area "clear".

Cameras. Processing starts from the photo files you upload. Colour cameras feed maps and 3D models; DJI and FLIR radiometric thermal and MicaSense multispectral cameras are recognised automatically; LiDAR point clouds are processed too (LiDAR paper). Because Omniris works from files, the fleet you fly is your decision under the rules that apply to you (see The rules that shape the work).

Integrations and delivery

Channel	What it does
Reports and certificates	The situation report and comparison report PDFs; signed custody certificates for a file, folder or finding, verifiable offline
Findings API and webhooks	Read or read-and-write tokens scoped to one organisation or vault: search findings, follow a change feed, fetch evidence, update status or assignee, request certificates. Signed webhooks announce changes; on premises they can go to approved machines on your own network
Exports	Findings as GeoJSON, CSV or KML (up to 20,000 at a time); maps as GeoTIFF; elevation surfaces to CAD in the site's frame
Publish to ArcGIS	GeoTIFF maps to your ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise; an Enterprise portal on your own network works without the internet. Protected files are never sent
Shares and links	Share codes (read-only, full access or frozen snapshot) and public links with password, expiry and view limit, each use recorded in the custody record

Shared Site Navigator links show a site's dated maps and never include encrypted layers. Orion, the Omniris AI assistant, answers questions about your sites from the data you may see; a cloud language model answers them, so Orion needs the internet (Sharing and Delivery, Orion).

Cloud, data center and on-premises

The software is the same in all four editions; what differs is whose hardware it runs on, and so where the data and keys live.

Edition	Files, database and processing	Encryption keys and custody signing key
Omniris cloud (Microsoft Azure)	Azure, West US 3 region, United States	Omniris's key service in its private Azure network; Azure Key Vault
Omniris cloud (Google Cloud)	Google Cloud, us-central1 region, United States	Omniris's own key service on Google Cloud; Cloud KMS
Omniris data center edition	Omniris's own servers	A key service on those servers; TPM chip or protected key file
On premises	Your own servers, with processing on your own NVIDIA or AMD GPU workers. Can run disconnected	A key service on your server, keys generated there and never leaving; TPM chip (or other PKCS#11 hardware) or protected key file

Data residency. Both Omniris cloud editions keep files and databases in the United States. An organisation that must keep imagery in its own country, or on its own hardware, runs the on-premises edition: a coordinator server plus GPU workers that join it over the local network.
Hybrid, only when you choose it. A connected self-hosted site can send a chosen job (a map, a 3D model, an AI detection) to the Omniris cloud when its own machines are busy or too small. It is chosen job by job, never for you; that job's inputs go to the cloud and the results come back to the local vault. It is unavailable offline, and a site that must keep everything in-country simply does not use it.
Commerce stays in the cloud. Marketplace, payments and payouts run only on Omniris cloud and the data center edition; on premises there is no invoicing.
Same capabilities. Change review, situation reports, custody, legal holds, protected files and the street basemap work the same way in every edition.

What the results are, and what they are not

A monitoring record is only useful if its boundaries are clear. These are the ones to rely on:

Change review is for analysts. AI change compares what the detector found on two dates, so anything it missed or invented on either date carries into the comparison. It needs two orthomosaics with the same model and prompt, at ground resolutions no more than twice apart, and it will not apply a shift between flights that it cannot estimate reliably. Every change waits for a person's review before it counts as confirmed.
After the flight, not live. Omniris works on flights after they land. It is not a live video, intrusion-alarm or counter-drone system.
A map, not a regulatory record. A mapped patrol shows what was on the ground that day; it is not a patrol log against a regulatory interval, a damage grade, a bridge or dam condition rating, or a government assessment form. A drone map is not a licensed survey (Accuracy and reference frames).
Airspace from FAA data. The airspace check reads US FAA data. EU geographical zones, U-space and operational authorisations are checked with the national authority.
Where data goes. Both Omniris cloud editions run in US regions of Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud; in-country residency elsewhere means the on-premises edition. Orion sends questions to a cloud language model, so it needs the internet and is unavailable on a disconnected site.
On-premises evidence. Times recorded while offline rest on the local clock, legal holds bind the application rather than the server's root user, and the licence term bounds how long a site can stay disconnected. Certificates say so.
No certifications claimed. Omniris holds no government-cloud authorisation or security certification and claims compliance with none of the rules in this paper, nor does it vet aircraft against the American Security Drone Act, the FCC Covered List or the Blue UAS list. It records what it does so that you can show your own compliance.

Sources

CISA, "Critical Infrastructure Sectors" (16 sectors). cisa.gov
Directive (EU) 2022/2555 (NIS2), Annex I, "Sectors of high criticality", and Annex II, "Other critical sectors". OJ L 333, 27.12.2022. eur-lex.europa.eu
Directive (EU) 2022/2555 (NIS2), Article 21(2), cybersecurity risk-management measures. eur-lex.europa.eu
Directive (EU) 2022/2555 (NIS2), Article 41, transposition (adopt by 17 October 2024; apply from 18 October 2024). eur-lex.europa.eu
Directive (EU) 2022/2557 (CER), Article 13, resilience measures of critical entities. OJ L 333, 27.12.2022. eur-lex.europa.eu
Directive (EU) 2022/2557 (CER), Article 12, risk assessment by critical entities. eur-lex.europa.eu
Directive (EU) 2022/2557 (CER), Article 6, identification of critical entities (by 17 July 2026). eur-lex.europa.eu
49 CFR 195.412, inspection of rights-of-way and crossings under navigable waters (hazardous liquid pipelines). law.cornell.edu
49 CFR 192.705, transmission lines: patrolling (gas pipelines). law.cornell.edu
NERC, Reliability Standard CIP-014-3, Physical Security (purpose; R1 risk assessment periodicity; R5 physical security plans). nerc.com. On FERC's 10 September 2026 approval of CIP-014-4: Davis Wright Tremaine, "FERC Approves New Reliability Standard for Bulk-Power System Physical Security" (September 2026). dwt.com
23 CFR 650.311, National Bridge Inspection Standards, inspection interval. law.cornell.edu
US EPA, "AWIA Section 2013" (risk and resilience assessments and emergency response plans for community water systems). epa.gov
FEMA, Preliminary Damage Assessment Guide, 1 July 2025 (virtual sensing, aerial imagery from drones, geospatial damage assessment). fema.gov
T. Manzini, P. Perali, R. R. Murphy, "Deploying Rapid Damage Assessments from sUAS Imagery for Disaster Response", arXiv:2511.03132. arxiv.org
Network Rail, "Air Operations". networkrail.co.uk
American Security Drone Act of 2023, S. 473 (reported text; enacted in the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act, Public Law 118-31). congress.gov
Missouri Department of Transportation, "New Federal Restrictions on Foreign Drones (Effective Dec 22, 2025)". modot.org
FCC, "List of Equipment and Services Covered By Section 2 of The Secure Networks Act" (UAS entry of 22 December 2025, updated 7 January, 18 March, 15 June and 21 July 2026). fcc.gov. On what the listing bars: Wiley Rein LLP, "FCC Issues Exemptions, Clarifications for Sweeping Prohibition of Foreign-Made Drones" (12 January 2026). wiley.law
Defense Innovation Unit, "DIU's Blue UAS List to Transition to DCMA". diu.mil
CISA and FBI, "Cybersecurity Guidance: Chinese-Manufactured UAS", 17 January 2024. cisa.gov
Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), Article 44, general principle for transfers. gdpr-info.eu
European Commission, "EU-US data transfers" (Data Privacy Framework adequacy decision, 10 July 2023). commission.europa.eu
EASA, "Specific category — civil drones" (Regulation (EU) 2019/947). easa.europa.eu
14 CFR 107.31, visual line of sight aircraft operation. law.cornell.edu
Geoportal (GUGiK), "Ortofotomapa (ORTO)": pixel sizes, update cycle, free use. geoportal.gov.pl
USGS EROS, "National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP)". usgs.gov
NIST SP 800-82 Rev. 3, Guide to Operational Technology (OT) Security, September 2023. csrc.nist.gov
Bureau of Reclamation, research project 553, "Exploring the Feasibility and Versatility of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Reclamation Mission Work". usbr.gov

Glossary

AI change: Omniris's object-by-object comparison of two dated orthomosaics: which detected objects appeared, disappeared or stayed, each change filed for review.
Air gap: A network with no connection to the internet. On an Omniris site the firewall enforces it; the offline switch stops Omniris's own processes connecting out.
Blue UAS: The US defence department's list of vetted drones and components, managed by the Defense Contract Management Agency.
CER and NIS2: The EU directives on the resilience of critical entities (2022/2557) and on cybersecurity (2022/2555).
Covered List: The FCC's list of equipment barred from new FCC equipment authorizations; foreign-produced drones and critical components were added on 22 December 2025.
Custody record: The tamper-evident, signed and timestamped history of a file or finding in Omniris.
ETRF2000: A realisation of the European reference frame ETRS89, used by Poland's positioning network; one of the RTK frames a site can state.
Ground resolution (GSD): The ground covered by one pixel of a map, such as 1 in (2.5 cm).
Hybrid: Sending a chosen job from a self-hosted site to the Omniris cloud, with the results returned to the local vault.
Legal hold: A freeze on evidence so it cannot be changed or deleted, enforced in four independent places including write-once escrow.
OpenTDF: An open standard for encrypted files that carry their own access rules, with keys released by a key service only to people on the list.
Orthomosaic: A map-accurate image stitched from many straight-down drone photos.
Situation report: One PDF, in English or Polish, telling the story of a site between two dates, with findings and verifiable sources.

Omniris · Sovereign & critical-infrastructure monitoring vertical paper, October 2026. This paper describes product capabilities. Related papers: Security, Evidence integrity, AI detection, Site management.

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